Every captain needs a crew -- even a captain like James Tiberius Kirk of the Federation starship Enterprise.

From the very beginning of "Star Trek," some 700-plus TV episodes and 12 films ago, the voyages of the Enterprise have been all about the ensemble. With the original crew, William Shatner's Kirk and Leonard Nimoy's Spock may have taken center stage but Bones, Scotty, Sulu and Uhura were never mere window dressing. In "The Next Generation," it may have been Captain Jean-Luc Picard's ship, but Riker, Worf, Data, Geordi and Dr. Crusher were always right up front.

Director J.J. Abrams has continued that ensemble feel in the two films that have rebooted what had been a moribund franchise: "Star Trek" in 2009 and the new "Star Trek Into Darkness," which comes out Friday. Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock do a lot of the heavy lifting, but all of the Enterprise's bridge crew get their moments.

It's one of the reasons being part of the new "Trek" is so appealing to actors like Simon Pegg (Scotty) and John Cho (Sulu), back for another voyage in "Darkness," and newcomer Alice Eve, who takes on the role of Dr. Carol Marcus, a key figure in "Star Trek" lore.

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Returning to the Enterprise was "eerily similar" to the first film "even with the cast additions," says Cho during a recent visit to San Francisco. "We were playing the same characters, we were wearing the same costumes and doing it on the same sets.

"It was almost as if no time had elapsed at all. And the new cast members folded right into the vibe."

Pegg, who has jokingly suggested that the crew gets its full share of screen time because "Chris Pine is a little less of a camera hog than Bill Shatner," says things were even easier on the set the second time around. "We'd done it once before, so we didn't have the burden of debut," he notes, "and we were able to hit the ground running."

For her part, Eve says that she and fellow newcomer Benedict Cumberbatch (the star of TV's "Sherlock" who plays the main villain) "were really welcomed by everyone involved. J.J. (Abrams) set a tone that is a very familial tone, and a very jovial atmosphere exists on the set, even when we're dealing with serious stuff."

"Into Darkness" gives Cho, Eve and particularly Pegg their chances in the spotlight. Eve helps defuse a proton torpedo and takes her swings at Cumberbatch's villain. Cho gets to man the captain's chair in a faceoff with a powerful starship. ("It's not the most comfortable chair in the world," says Cho, laughing. "It could use a few cashmere throws.")

And Pegg? Well, let's just say Scotty gets to do more than tell Kirk he isn't sure warp drive will come back online.

"Scotty makes a big decision early on in the film that affects his journey," says Pegg. "He doesn't expect that decision to go the way it does. He stands up for himself and for his beliefs and honestly believes Kirk will see sense. But Kirk doesn't, because, at that point, he's blinded by his own emotional attachment to what's going on.

"So Scotty gets to have a little arc where he's off the Enterprise and out of his comfort zone. He would be perfectly happy spending his time in the warp core and fiddling with things."

As they wrap up publicity for "Into Darkness," the three actors are off to other things.

Cho is taking a bit of a break because "I have a newborn kid I've been told I have to spend some time with before I get divorced." But he's in the cast of Fox's new fall series, "Sleepy Hollow." Eve has wrapped up "Cold Comes the Night," a crime thriller with Bryan Cranston, that should be out later this year.

Pegg returns later this summer with Edgar Wright's apocalypse spoof, "The World's End." He also is the film's co-writer, as he was for Wright's "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz."

All three expect to be back onboard the Enterprise for a third trip sometime in the near future, although Pegg notes that "nothing's been said, because before a film comes out, you never want to hedge your bets and to be so bold as to say there's going to be another one."

But it sounds as if none believes that Abrams -- who has a lot on his plate including the reboot of "Star Wars" -- will be around to direct, although he will return as producer and general guiding light of the franchise. And they expect him to pick a worthy successor.

"There's no way J.J. would hand this over to anyone he had any doubts about," says Pegg. "There's no way he'll let 'Star Trek' go unless it's in safe hands."

For film news and more, follow Charlie McCollum at Twitter.com/charlie_mccollu.

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